David Krejci registered 19 goals and 69 points in 80 games last season for the Boston, but its’ his 12 games without a goal during the playoffs, which is concerning.

Krejci registered four assists in the postseason as Boston fell to the Montreal Canadiens in the second round. It was the first time in his career he was held without a goal in the playoffs.

As he enters his eighth season in Boston, there’s a lot on Krejci’s shoulders.

The 28-year-old is entering the final season of a three-year $15.75 million contract and is a pending unrestricted free agent.

As Boston radio station WEEI points out in their Big Bad Blog, last time around Krejci didn’t sign until December 2011 well into the final year of his deal. According to the post, Krejci and the Bruins have begun “casual discussions” on a new deal for the Czech native.

Eriksson told CSNNE.com’s Joe Haggerty earlier this month that, “It’s definitely two great players to play with. I played two games with (Krejci and Lucic) last season, and it was nice. We’ll see when the preseason starts, and if maybe we practice together a little bit. Then we’ll see how things work out. Krejci is a great player, and he can see the ice really well.”

As NHL.com points out, should Reilly Smith have a contract when the season starts, he could also see time with the Bruins veterans as coach Claude Julien looks to find the right chemistry amongst his forward group.

Given that he is in a contract year and could be auditioning for more than just the Bruins along with the fact he had a postseason to forget, Boston fans should expect big things from Krejci this season.

No. Not David Krejci. I know he had a rough playoffs last year, but he’s generally one of the most consistent players on a consistently good team–I would choose brad Marchand or maybe even Zdeno Chara to prove he’s still an elite defender capable of keeping up with the speed of the NHL. I’m not sure–just not Krejci.

I would have gone with Chara myself. Krejci has still got the goods – and one bad playoff round is not all on him.

Marchand missed how many open nets?

topshelf37 - Aug 29, 2014 at 12:49 PM

I would think Loui would be playing with the most pressure. Under Boston media scrutiny, trying to justify himself from the trade, and expected to make a jump back to a top line wing, dude has some serious pressure. Agree with Iowenni that Krejci has been consistent. Chara is probably #2 for pressure, but Loui first.

Moop - Aug 29, 2014 at 12:57 PM

If I had to pick someone to put pressure on I would pick Loui Eriksson. He’s going into his second season with the Bruins, healthy and now more familiar with the Bruins system. However, he’s probably going to play a much larger role on the first line with Krejci and Lucic; while he’s a very good defensive player, he needs to prove he can put up the same points he did with Dallas or Bruins fans might grow tired of him quickly. He’s certainly in the right position to do that; Krejci is still the best offensive player on the team and will definitely be looking to pass to Eriksson a lot. It will be interesting how the first line plays with Eriksson, as opposed to having two power forwards as they’ve used since adding Horton in 2010-2011.

leepetertk - Aug 29, 2014 at 1:12 PM

Agree. I would have picked Eriksson as the player that needs to deliver this year. Krejci will be resigned sometime during the season. But Eriksson needs to show he can play on the top line and produce like he did in Dallas. With Iginla departing, clearly it is Eriksson that needs to be healthy and replace Iggy’s offense.

19to77 - Aug 29, 2014 at 2:33 PM

As far as the new look goes, I would expect good things to come from pairing two high-skill guys like Krejci and Eriksson. Eriksson’s done well playing RW to the Sedins in international play before and racked up three 70-point seasons in Dallas skating primarily with Brad Richards. Assuming he can stay healthy this year, expect good things to happen.

Wouldn’t say Krejci is under pressure. He’s easily been our most consistent player since the 2010-11 season. If any one is under pressure you could argue Marchy or even Eriksson to fill the top line void. Krejci will bounce back next years playoffs. He knows and has what it take to get it done come post season time

I would say the entire core and Claude are under pressure. Listen I’m a season ticket holder and this group with exception of 2011 and 2013 have underachieved in playoffs. Another playoff early exit will require changes and these guys know it. Therefore I’m expecting deep run as these guys usually respond. If not core must be adjusted. God bless hockey and the Boston Bruins

19to77 - Aug 29, 2014 at 2:37 PM

“With exception of that year they won the Cup, and that other year they went to the Finals, yeah, they’re underachieving choke artists.”

2010- was a fluke and a joke. They did choke, but they shouldn’t have been up 3-0 on Philly. They were not a better team. The reason teams don’t blow 3-0 leads is because the better team usually doesn’t go down 3-0. Especially when Krejci went down.
Wideman, Satan, Begin, Whitfield, Sturm, Sobotka, Hunwick,, Savard…

You also leave out 2 Stanley Cup visits (one win).

There are two teams that have done better since 2011. TWO. The Kings & Hawks.

I’m ok with that.

pepper2011 - Aug 29, 2014 at 3:32 PM

Last year was not a Super fail. They were onto their 9th dman. NINTH.

Montreal was the only team that would have beat them in the east and they went 7 games.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t good, but Super fail? 4 Rookie dmen. FOUR. If it wasn’t the Habs, I think the mentality about how ‘bad’ it was would be different.

19to77 - Aug 29, 2014 at 5:24 PM

That’s one way of seeing it. Another way is: in the last six years, they’ve made the second round of the playoffs five times, won the Cup once, and challenged for it a second time two seasons later. They have the fourth-longest active playoff streak and unlike the second-place Sharks have actually won a Cup in that span. 27 teams would kill for what the Bruins have had in the last five years. Be grateful to your damn team.

killhowe - Aug 29, 2014 at 5:09 PM

Krejci was the main reason Seguin was somewhat expendable (he wasn’t going to play 1st or 2nd line over Bergeron and Krejci) so I would say theres a wee bit of pressure for him.